Sierra ski resorts: Guess who has the most snow?

As usual, the South Tahoe gem — which made Ski Magazine’s list of “Ten Best Mountains You’ve Never Skied (And Probably Never Heard Of) — has a jump on everyone else this season. Historically, Kirkwood gets more snow than its Sierra neighbors. And history is repeating itself in 2012.

“The last two storms that have rolled through the Sierra have dropped a combined four feet of snow at Kirkwood, allowing us to open early for all our passionate skiers and riders,” said Casey Blann, general manager of Kirkwood. “This will be a great start to the 40th anniversary season at Kirkwood, and the first with Vail Resorts.”

That’s right. Kirkwood has pushed up its opening five days, starting up its lifts today, instead.

Unfortunately, they’ll only be operating one chair to start, but all that snow could make for some fresh tracks. Kirkwood will open Chair 5 (Solitude) accessing about 40 acres of terrain including Race Course, Mokelumne, Lower Monte Wolfe, Lower Zachary and lower Olympic.

If you haven’t been to Kirkwood, here’s a funny promotional video the resort put out this year, featuring the mountain’s director of stoke, Coop Cooper: